A special prosecutor's sweeping probe of Moscow election meddling ensnared President Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort Monday on a dozen criminal offenses, including charges that he laundered tens of millions of dollars he made overseas to avoid paying taxes and live a lavish lifestyle.

Manafort, who steered Trump's 2016 campaign as it reached the home stretch, funneled the cash he earned from secret lobbying deals in Ukraine through overseas shell companies, and used the money for antique rugs, home improvements, luxury cars and expensive suits, according to a federal indictment handed up Monday.

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Manafort, and his longtime associate Rick Gates, who was hit with similar charges, appeared in Federal District Court in Washington D.C., and pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Their pleas came on the same day that charges against another campaign aide, foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, were unsealed. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty in early October to lying to federal agents about contacts with Russian associates.

"Manafort used his hidden overseas wealth to enjoy a lavish lifestyle in the United States without paying taxes on that income," said the indictment secured by special counsel, Robert Mueller, who was brought on in May by the Justice Department to investigate the Kremlin connection.

"As part of the scheme, Manafort and Gates repeatedly provided false information to financial bookkeepers, tax accountants and legal counsel, among others," the indictment read.

Paul Manafort leaves federal court Monday in Washington, DC. The former Trump campaign chairman has been indicted on charges including conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, failing to register as a foreign agent and failing to report foreign assets. (Keith Lane/Getty Images)

Manafort, a veteran Republican strategist, was charged with constructing an elaborate overseas fraud scheme with Gates over more than a decade. An estimated $75 million is believed to have moved through offshore accounts they controlled.

Prosecutors accused Manafort and Gates, who also surrendered Monday, of making tens of millions of dollars from pro-Kremlin politicians in Ukraine and laundering it through a web of corporations and accounts in places such as Cyprus and the Seychelles.

Mueller's indictment includes a long list of wire transfers made to American businesses from shady overseas ventures, including $5 million to a Hamptons home improvement company, more than $900,000 to a Virginia rug company, more than $800,000 to a men's clothing store in New York and another $500,000 to a clothing store in Beverly Hills.

The alleged scheme stretched from 2008 to 2017, a time that includes Manafort's work for Trump in spring and summer 2016.

Manafort was Trump's chairman and chief strategist, a job that gave him control over day-to-day operations of the campaign.

While lawyers for Manafort and Gates denied any wrongdoing, the White House and Trump himself dismissed any connection between his campaign and any alleged crimes.

"Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign. But why aren't Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?????" Trump tweeted. "....Also, there is NO COLLUSION!"

Trump spent much of the morning watching TV and fuming about the indictments, according to the Washington Post.

During the coverage, Trump called his lawyers repeatedly, and watched live footage of Manafort and Gates turning themselves in.

Hours later, the White House underlined his point.

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Rick Gates, a former campaign official for U.S. President Donald Trump, leaves U.S. District Court, Monday. (JIM URQUHART/REUTERS)

"Today's announcement has nothing to do with the President and nothing to do with the president's campaign or campaign activity," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. She repeatedly sidestepped questions about Trump's contention that he only hires "the best people," and whether he had any concerns about an alleged criminal running his campaign.

Manafort's lawyer, Kevin Downing, also focused on the collusion issue - and not the money laundering.

"Well, I think you all saw today that President Donald Trump was correct," Downing told reporters after his client's arraignment. "There is no evidence that Manafort or the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government."

During their arraignment, prosecutors asked Manafort be held on $10 million bail, and longtime business associate Rick Gates held on $5 million. They were both put under house arrest.

Manfort walked into the FBI's field office in Washington D.C. with his lawyer shortly after 8 a.m.

Manafort and Gates appeared in court Monday, where they pleaded not guilty to 12 charges. (Dana Verkouteren/AP)

FBI agents had conducted a pre-dawn raid of Manafort's home in Alexandria, Va., and seized documents as part of the investigation earlier this year.

Agents picked the lock on Manafort's front door during a no-knock raid. Those records helped Mueller put together a case accusing Manafort and Gates of serving as "unregistered" foreign agents.

Manafort also attended a Trump Tower meeting last year with Donald Trump Jr. and the President's son-in-law Jared Kushner with two Russian lobbyists who offered damaging information on Hillary Clinton.

The indictment unsealed on Monday does not accuse Manafort or Gates – who kept working for the Trump campaign after Manafort's departure and served on his inaugural committee - of any form of collusion with the Russians to effect the 2016 election.

Money laundering, the most serious of the charges, carries a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years.

George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign foreign adviser, pleaded guilty earlier this month to making false statements to the FBI. (Linkedin.com)

The indictment also said Manafort purchased a Brooklyn brownstone and a SoHo condo in his efforts to launder money obtained by lobbying on behalf of the Ukrainian government.

Manafort allegedly purchased both properties through limited liability corporations he and his family controlled with money previously kept in Cyprus.

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded last year that Moscow operatives targeted Clinton's campaign with cyberattacks and document leaks to damage her candidacy in favor of Trump's presidential bid.

The indictments against Manafort and Gates were the first to be made public since former FBI Director James Comey launched the investigation more than a year ago.

Comey told Congress in March that federal investigators were looking into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to undermine Clinton's campaign.

Rick Gates (left), Manafort's business associate, has been indicted as well. Gates is seen with Donald Trump as he prepares for his speech at the Republican National Convention in July 2016. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Mueller was called in to take over the probe after Trump fired Comey in May.

Members of Trump's family are also getting attention from Mueller, according to reporrts. Trump Jr., Kushner and Manafort met with a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin.

Legal experts said Mueller is likely to use the indictment to pressure the pair into cooperating.

Nick Akerman, a former assistant special prosecutor during the Watergate hearings, called the indictment against Manafort a "slam dunk."

"This is one of those indictments that's very well written, and there's no defense for it," he said, who speculating that efforts are already underway to get Manafort to cooperate.

Former FBI Director Robert Mueller was appointed to investigate alleged election meddling in May. (Koichi Kamoshida)

"The fact that they came down on him with a sledgehammer that's impossible to get out of tells me that the process has not yet started and that this will start the process."

House Speaker Paul Ryan said he had not read the indictments, and did not want to speculate before saying he had "nothing to add, other than nothing's going to derail what we're doing in Congress."

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Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), praised the Justice Department for enforcing the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires agents of foreign governments to register with the United States.

"It should be enforced fairly and consistently, regardless of politics or any other factor," Grassley said.